Kiev Major 2017 - Tournament Report

0

Published on: 03/05/2017

The Kiev Major 2017 produced some fine performances from the world’s top Dota2 teams, prompting some lively discussion on Reddit. Highlights of the tournament can still be seen on Twitch, and fans are sure to be looking back on this cracker of a tournament for years to come. Team OG took home the title, along with the first prize of $1 million, beating Virtus.pro into second place.

Here’s a round-up of all the action.

Round of 16

Sixteen teams were left in place following the group stage of the tournament, with Team Secret topping the rankings heading into the play-offs.

They were followed by Virtus.pro, Invictus Gaming, and the TNC Pro Team, who completed the top four. The next four play-off spots were filled by eventual winners OG – who were fifth – Team Liquid, Digital Chaos and Thunderbirds.

Completing the 16-team line-up for the play-offs were Evil Geniuses, Team VGJ, Newbee, Team Random, Team Faceless, mousesports, iG Vitality and SG e-sports. This line-up threw up some fascinating looking matches, and fans were not disappointed with the action.

Invictus Gaming were paired with mousesports for their round of 16 tie, and emerged as 2-1 winners, a result which saw them play Newbee’s conquerors Team Liquid in the quarter-finals. Digital Chaos were beaten 2-0 by Team VGJ, while Virtus.pro were comfortable winners over iG Vitality.

Team Faceless had to work hard to win 2-1 in their game with TNC Pro Team, while OG also won a close one with Team Random by 2-1. Evil Geniuses were more comfortable in their 2-0 victory over Thunderbirds. SG e-sports completed the line-up for the quarter-finals with their 2-1 win over Team Secret.

Quarter-finals and Semi-finals

The quarter-final matches were all close, all finishing 2-1, and producing some skilled and exciting play from all the teams involved. Invictus Gaming beat Team Liquid, Virtus.pro conquered Team VGJ, OG beat Team Faceless, and the Evil Geniuses overcame SG e-sports. This set up some classic semi-finals for the tournament’s closing day.

Virtus.pro and Invictus Gaming clashed in the day’s first semi-final, with Virtus.pro triumphing 2-0. Pavel ‘9pasha’ Kvastunov was in fine form for the victors, using Magnus to help dominate the opposition.

In the other semi-final, OG took on Evil Geniuses, with the western rivals producing a closed game, despite the eventual 2-0 scoreline in OG’s favour. OG’s mid laner, Anathan ‘Ana’ Pham was in particularly good form, using Ember Spirit in Game 1 to finish with an 11/3/12 KDA. In game 2, he finished 11/6/14 on Templar Assassin. OG’s current roster of players has now reached four grand finals, a record no other Dota2 team can match.

Final

OG put in another claim for being considered all-time greats when they beat Virtus.pro 3-2 in a classic final. Four hard-fought games set up a fiercely competitive decider, in which OG spent the first 35 minutes scrabbling for survival. A skilfully handled fight around the Roshan pit brought OG back into contention, however, and an imperious comeback saw the team take their fourth Valve Major title.